SEAN ARMENTA | the blog

I just wanted to share the technique that I use for dodging and...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:19:51 -0700

I just wanted to share the technique that I use for dodging and burning, using two curves layers.

This is a step by step of my retouching workflow for a basic...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:51:18 -0700

This is a step by step of my retouching workflow for a basic clean beauty shot.

Many thanks to David McDonnell of Imagenomic for his support and for making Portraiture such a wonderful program to use.

Idle Hands images. These images replicate soft window light so well that I'm blown away. How about a few more technical details or lighting and space diagram.

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 19:51:00 -0700

thanks ken. i honestly wouldn’t be able to tell you much as far as technical details are...

Here’s a look at the first day of the Prep To Post Fashion...

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:53:59 -0700

Here’s a look at the first day of the Prep To Post Fashion Photography Workshop last month. We had a great turnout and were able to work with a fantastic group of people. Being able to share my experience as a photographer with others as a benefit to them in some form makes these workshops worth doing. I will be taking a break from workshops for a short while to focus on other things, but we will definitely pick things back up in a few months.

Hey guy, I watched your BTSV and had a question or two about your set up. First of all. I can find big white foam board, but not the black ones you have, did you make them black or buy them black? I'm just trying to figure out a cheap solution to having some big black cards. Also what are you using to hold the bottom silver fill card in the video? Is it just like a light stand with a clamp? Anyhow thanks if you have time to answe them, My email is imustbedead@gmail.com

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:53:14 -0700

foamboard or foamcore comes in pretty much every color, including black. you can find them at the...

After a couple of weeks of finding my way around Final Cut Pro...

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:33:00 -0700

After a couple of weeks of finding my way around Final Cut Pro 7, I wanted to try shooting my first fashion short film. I was quite nervous having never really shot anything like this - all my other videos have been a behind the scenes look at my photoshoots. To be able to create a story around a mood with fashion definitely took me out of my comfort zone, both from a photography standpoint and a director’s standpoint. However I decided to approach it as a photographer, not necessarily a film maker, and basically shot what I felt would be a moving fashion editorial. The process, surprisingly, went quite smoothly, and I was able to edit the story in about an hour and a half or so.

What took me the longest time to do were the titles in the opening sequence. I am still learning the basics of Motion, and it literally took me an entire day to create titles out of four words.

I shot this with Dondee’s Canon 7D with a 50mm 1.4, an 85mm 1.8, and a 180mm 3.5L Macro. I used one light modified by an Elinchrom Octabank. Many thanks to Jade for being an awesome model and for being patient with me.

I came upon this fantastic website, FStoppers.com, which...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:09:00 -0700

I came upon this fantastic website, FStoppers.com, which features Behind the Scenes videos from photographers and videographers. It was created by Patrick Hall and Lee Morris, and it seems like such a great resource for professionals and amateurs alike. I love the fact that this online community is built upon sharing knowledge and experience and is bringing a sense of community amongst creatives.

I wrote Lee and offered my existing BTS videos to post on their site. He politely turned them down, citing they were not informational enough. He then suggested I enter a contest they were holding. I thought, what a great way to give back to the industry that has given so much to my life and have a chance to win a camera that would help me continue to keep producing videos like this. Doing my Prep To Post Workshops has enabled me to reach out to photographers, but FStoppers would allow me to reach out worldwide. I had already planned on producing content like this, but Lee pretty much kick started it for me.

This project would not have been possible without the help of Jade Corinne, Karuna Karmarkar, Dondee Quincena, Jon Gonzales, and Stephanie Elise.

FStoppers.com is free to join, and again, it is a great resource to learn from other photographers around the world. If you would like to vote for my entry, you must first be a registered member.

Dimitris Skoulos for Elle Greece August 2010

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:40:00 -0700

Dimitris Skoulos for Elle Greece August 2010: Now this is quite amazingly stunning. I love the...

Idle Hands

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:29:11 -0700

One night last week Jade and I were bored. It’s been said that idle hands are the...

Here’s a behind the scenes video of a lifestyle fashion...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:39:08 -0700

Here’s a behind the scenes video of a lifestyle fashion shoot with what is probably the smallest crew I’ve shot with in a long time. This was shot late last year when I was just getting into shooting outdoor ambient light. It feels good to get out of the studio with just your camera and your subject and capture life.

I produced this shoot to add some lifestyle images to my portfolio as well as everyone else’s books. Jade Corinne was in the process of shopping for an agency so these shots would be of great use to her, and she later ended up signing with Q Model Management in LA. Christina Guerra and Lyndzi Trang were also looking to add some commercial lifestyle imagery to their books so it all worked out well for us that day.

Not having to lug around extra gear allows you to be more fluid, and having less forces you to be more creative with the environment you are in. I shot these on a 5D and switched around between a 50mm 1.4, an 85mm 1.8, and a 180mm 3.5L Macro. I chose to shoot wide open to blur out any extraneous elements and bring focus to Jade while still maintaining a sense of environment and location.

My good friend Dondee Quincena sent me this shot the other day....

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:30:48 -0700

My good friend Dondee Quincena sent me this shot the other day. It looks like Wet Seal is opening up another store at Mission Viejo Mall. It’s always such a great feeling to see my work in print, and even better when it’s larger than life :)

We shot Wet Seal’s Denim line last May at my studio. It...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:57:21 -0700

We shot Wet Seal’s Denim line last May at my studio. It was a full house, with five models, two makeup artists, and two hairstylists, along with the usual suspects.

It was a very simple concept - the five different types of denim were to be given their own “personality” by each of the models, such as the “showstopper.” Lighting was very straightforward and meant to showcase the denim’s washes and colors.

We lit it with an Elinchrom Octabank pointed straight on towards the model right behind my shooting position. The background was lit with a single head from up high fitted with a custom globe that I made with tracing paper which lights my cyc evenly without having to use the usual four umbrella setup commonly seen. Everything was shot on a 5D with a 50mm 1.4 at F16.

Towards the end of the day, the art director decided to throw me a curve ball and requested to do some outdoor shots. We quickly ran out to the street and shot some ambient light, still using the 50mm 1.4 but this time opening up to F2 and getting the shots above.

This is pretty typical on a Wet Seal shoot, where the art direction may change at a moment’s notice. They’re not a client that I have the luxury of sitting down with a couple of days before the shoot to discuss concepts at a pre-production meeting. This is something we discuss the day of the shoot and it’s up to me to deliver what they need. Being able to stay flexible and spontaneous has helped me overcome this challenge.

"Every time you press that shutter, you get better. Every time you evaluate your photos, you get..."

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:05:16 -0700

“Every time you press that shutter, you get better. Every time you evaluate your photos, you...

An Interview with Sekonic

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:51:00 -0700

An Interview with Sekonic: Ron Egatz with the MAC Group (whose brands include Mamiya, Sekonic,...

As I was planning the details of my trip out to Virginia, Luis...

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

our poolside makeup station

Olympus PT-038

As I was planning the details of my trip out to Virginia, Luis half-jokingly mentioned doing an underwater shoot in his pool. I have always wanted to do a fashion or beauty shoot underwater, so I brought my serious underwater photo gear: My trusty Olympus FE-230 point and shoot and the Olympus PT-038 underwater housing. I had used my point and shoot before when I dove in Honolulu a couple of years ago and it performed pretty well, so I wanted to see what I could do with it in a photoshoot situation.

Kathy Aragon lent her fantastic makeup skills using Face Atelier’s transforming gel and foundation which held up amazingly underwater.

In all honesty, I was quite impressed with the images considering it was from an older model point and shoot camera. I don’t do enough underwater photography to justify purchasing a DSLR housing, but I would consider upgrading to something like a Canon G10 which has a RAW file format and manual exposure control and getting the WP-DC28 for it.

Many thanks to Luis Aragon for the behind the scenes shots.

Be a Tourist

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Last weekend I traveled to Virginia to teach my Prep To Post Beauty Photography workshop at Studio...

June Beauty Photography Workshop at Studio400

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

June Beauty Photography Workshop at Studio400: Check out the Prep To Post Blog for details on how...

Here is the finished product of the video Wet Seal produced to...

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:03:00 -0700

Here is the finished product of the video Wet Seal produced to promote their Model Search for this year. Shot at my studio, I lit the set using a Speedotron beauty dish diffused with a sock, as well as a silver reflector underneath Brittany. I think it turned out quite nicely.

RIP Dennis Hopper

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:06:00 -0700

RIP Dennis Hopper: Dennis Hopper was not only an amazing actor, but an accomplished photographer...

Behind the Scenes footage of a Wet Seal 2010 summer...

Sat, 29 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Behind the Scenes footage of a Wet Seal 2010 summer campaign

Location, location, location - you hear this all the time in the film and photo industry in reference to the importance of having a great location to shoot in to produce great photos. I disagree. I think it’s what you do at a given location that makes a photo great.

Shooting for Wet Seal these past 3 years has given me some great opportunities with my photography - I was able to build a great lifestyle portfolio and jumpstart my celebrity portfolio with the shoots they have produced. We’ve shot at Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood High School, and Laguna Beach - all great locations that make it fairly easy to find your shots. We didn’t always have that luxury, however. In fact, we started shooting Wet Seal’s lifestyle look right outside their corporate office in Foothill Ranch. When budgets are tight, we have to make do with the locations we are given. As photographers, we are responsible for the image of the clients we shoot for, and of course we need to deliver the best images possible to best represent their brand. I take pride in being able to take on a challenge such as this - giving the illusion of being in a different place than where you really were.

This last campaign was again shot in a small grassy area that borders the side of their corporate office. I joke with the Art Director that we have now come full circle.

Knowing that I needed to work around a number of distracting and unattractive elements such as industrial buildings and streets, I had to shoot wide open to give the images a shallow depth of field. I shot these with a Canon 5D and a 50mm F1.4 at F2. Another variable I had to deal with was the position of the sun throughout the day, and having to shoot under an ever changing lighting situation is difficult, especially having to shoot midday where the lighting is quite unflattering. We brought an Elinchrom Octabank and some Speedotron gear to create a fairly consistent lighting scenario to work with. Not having a power outlet to plug into makes it a challenge to run electronics, so we also brought a Honda EU-2000 to power everything from lighting to computer workstation and some much needed music. One of the most important things I bring on location with me is Think Tank Photo’s Pixel Sunscreen which makes viewing images on my Macbook Pro easier under direct sunlight. Having all these tools at my disposal and an awesome team helped transform the location we were given into some great photographs.